"I wasn't an opponent of the ABS (automatic pitch judgment system)."
There were complaints even before the start. LG Twins veteran outfielder Kim Hyun-soo insisted that ABS should be improved.메이저놀이터
Kim headed to Arizona, the U.S., where the first spring camp will be held, via Incheon International Airport on Sunday. "I think it's just me who should do well. Everyone did well, and I didn't. It didn't even meet my expectations," Kim told reporters before leaving the country, signaling a rebound.
While talking about various things toward the upcoming 2025 season, Kim Hyun-soo expressed his thoughts on ABS.
The KBO League introduced ABS for the first time in the world last year. The machine, not the referee, tracked the position of the pitch to distinguish between strike and ball. Since it was first introduced, both positive and negative things coexisted.
On the positive side, the team and the coaches greatly reduced their emotional consumption. Both teams were subject to the same strike zone, so it was possible to proceed fairly. Most of the players agreed with the ABS decision and turned around. The umpires also had no stress about making ball decisions. This is because countless cases of ball decisions that can determine the outcome have been made every year.
Of course, there were complaints, too. Some players and coaches said that the strike zone is not consistent at all because different stadiums have different locations where pitch tracking cameras are installed. In addition, due to bugs and power supply problems, the camera failed to track pitch.
There were some controversies over the ABS decision. Batters made an expression on his face that he could not accept when a high ball that he could not hit was declared a strike, and pitchers also showed a smile of relief as if the ball had become a strike. As the machine was making the decision, it was impossible to complain to anyone, only to see the complaints of batters.
After the end of the season, KBO repaired several systems. One of them was to modify the height of the ABS strike zone. Accepting the opinions of the batters, they started to adjust.
KBO said, "The ABS strike zone this season applied 56.35% of the top and 27.64% of the bottom in proportion to the height of the batter. KBO listened to opinions through team surveys and conducted a review on the majority's opinion that the upper strike zone needs to be adjusted," he said. "Based on this season's game indicators, ABS decision zone comparison analysis, and expected changes due to strike zone adjustments, the executive committee has been discussing zone settings to be applied from the 2025 season, and has finally decided to lower the top and bottom by 0.6 percentage points (about 1 cm for players of 180 cm in height) to apply 55.75% of the top and 27.04% of the bottom."
However, Kim Hyun-soo wanted ABS improvement not to stop there. He wanted it to be operated according to individual batting form, not the batter's body. This is because the height of the ball is different depending on the batting posture.
"I wasn't an anti-ABS person, but now I'm having a hard time," Kim said. "Now I'm trying to adjust to my personal height, but I think it would be good if I could come up with an alternative such as adjusting my hitting form. If I artificially lower the height, I think another ridiculous strike zone will come out. If you set the ABS strike zone only with the standing key, of course, the taller one will be at a disadvantage. Everyone has different batting form, so if you can keep up with it, I think it's okay. I hope you can think of that. Right now, I just think, 'The (ABS strike zone) was high, so I'll lower it for you.' "I don't think it's right for me."
"If you match the batting form of the players, you will not think that it is a high ball (because the way they see the ball changes). Some batters bend down a lot, while others stand up. That's why I was talking about this. We will also hold exhibition games, and that's where the improvement plan will be made," he added.
Players have no choice but to be sensitive to a single ball decision. A single ball determines the outcome, which in turn affects individual careers and team performance. Therefore, he is bound to be sensitive even to a small size of about 1 centimeter. Kim Hyun-soo is a subject that can fully voice his voice.
Every year, the KBO quickly revises areas that need to be fixed by reflecting opinions from the field. How will the newly improved ABS be evaluated in the field? And will Kim's argument be accepted.